Mistakes
by Alpenwolf
Summary: Mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. That will never change. Series of one-shots that focuses mostly on mistakes.
1. Kai Leng

**Mistakes**

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_Author's note: This will be a series of one-shots that will focus mostly on mistakes. They can be minor or major or denied or whatever. People make mistakes, that's just how it is and that will never change. Mistakes will be a great part of the one shots, but I will also try to capture the thoughts of the person that the chapter is about. I hope I will succeed in it.  
_

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**Kai Leng**

Mistakes. Kai Leng hadn't done so many mistakes in his life. Joining the Alliance when he was younger may have been a mistake in retrofit, but the N7 training wasn't. It had been quite helpful on some occassions. Killing that krogan in the bar hadn't been a mistake. It may have sent him into prison, but it had finally opened his eyes about the Alliance.

The Alliance wasn't going to make the best out of their abilities. They were going to play nice with the aliens until they humanity may be accepted in the Council, which could take hundreds or thousand of years if one was looking at the turians and volus for reference. It had taken the turians hundreds of years and the volus were still not in any position to be joining the council any time soon.

Way too long, he had thought then. They don't even respect us. We are just pets they keep on a short leash. Fearing that their pets may be able to overthrow them someday if they didn't keep the leash on them and that's where Cerberus came into his life. They didn't like this sort of thinking and would do anything to turn it around. To keep them on a short leash and make humanity the rulers of the galaxy.

He quickly realized that this was the place he wanted to be, ever since he had been born. Ever since he had joined the military. Ever since he first saw an alien. Ever since he first killed an alien.

There was only one place for humanity and that was above all other species. Working together with them? Laughable. They were so fundamentally different. It could never work. It would never work out. One had to rule over the others and since he didn't wanted to be ruled by those disgusting, hidious beings there was only one way to achieve that and that way was Cerberus. They never denied the fact that humans were the supreme race and should rule over them all.

While most humans thought that Cerberus was a mistake and should be taken care of, he for one didn't think so. He thought Cerberus was a blessing in a godless world.

If he had to kill a few humans to achieve that goal, he would do that. If he had to sell his soul to the devil to prevent humanity from being a toy to the others, to prevent humanity from dying, to prevent humanity from losing their pride as a species than he would gladly do that. If he had to die for the ascension of humanity, he would do so, willingly.

Kai Leng stopped his thoughts as he noticed four people entering the room under his little hide-out. He recognized them from some previous encounters and from some dossiers he had gotten from Cerberus about them.

He let them have their time, since his boss ordered him to do so. He wanted one last meeting with her and so he was telling his boss that they were there. It didn't took long for him to materialize right under him.

Kai Leng didn't care about Shepard. He also didn't care about The Illusive Man's fascination with that person. Shepard was good, that was a given because that was how his fated enemy had to be. A real threat to their plans, but nothing he couldn't beat. He had beat the Savior of the Citadel a few times already and today would be the last day of Shepard. The day the first human Spectre would die.

He noticed that the head of Cerberus failed once again to turn Shepard around. Mistake he thought. It's a mistake that he is so focused on that person. He should be focused on way more important details, but somehow it always came back to Shepard. Regardless, he thought as he jumped down silently, I will take care of this mistake, once and for all.

And of course it didn't go his way, once again. He hadn't learned of his mistakes. In all his tries he hadn't managed to kill Shepard. The only ones who had ever managed to do that were the Collectors and now they were gone. While he was lying face down on the floor, barely able to breath, he didn't thought about his past mistakes. He only thought about how to kill Shepard. The Savior of the Citadel would die by his hands. That were his only thoughts, but the Commander intercepted his attack and killed him.

He could see his life flashing in front of his eyes and even as the Reaper released the slight control they had over him his thoughts were still on killing Shepard and the supremacy of humanity. Surprisingly, or not, his last thoughts were about the protheans and the rachni. If the protheans had failed to change the signal of the citadel or if the rachni could have taken control of the Citadel at the time of the rachni wars the Reapers would have harvested them all and humanity could have taken control of the Citadel and the galaxy. They would have had time. Thousands of years to prepare themselves for the Reapers. He only hoped that in some kind of alternative universe his dream had come true.

Alone, as he always had been, Kai Leng took his last breath and died on the floor.


	2. David E Anderson

**David E. Anderson**

Mistakes. Anderson wondered which kind of mistakes he had done to deserve this fate. Was it because he had failed to see Saren's true ambition at that facility all those years ago? Was it the Grayson dilemma? Was it the marriage with his wife that had gone wrong all those years ago? Was it because he had joined the Alliance? Or was it simply because his protege liked him too much? Trusted him too much? If so ... he had done it. Letting Shepard write his fate for him.

Anderson didn't feel bad for letting the Savior of the Citadel take control of the Normandy. For giving up command of the Normandy to the first human Spectre. In some way it felt good, but having to work with Udina was a nightmare. Maybe that was the mistake. Working with Udina. That guy was an asshole, but so were most politicians, but no one he had ever met was as bad as Udina.

Was it wrong to knock-out Udina to give Shepard a chance to go to Ilos? Na. It felt good and was the right thing to do. If he hadn't done it, they would all have been dead by now. Killed by the Reapers.

Anderson sighed as the elevator stopped and the door to the council chambers opened. He had no time to think about this. He had a meeting with the other councillors to attend. He sighed one last time as he left the elevator.

Maybe punching Udina had been a mistake after all ...


	3. Miranda Lawson

**Miranda Lawson**

_"You don't know me."_

"Mistakes. I don't do them. I'm perfect. I was born perfect. I was made to be perfect. I'm genetically perfect. I can't mistakes. I'm _unable_ to do mistakes, but still .."

_"I'm not who you think I am."_

"...something's amiss." Miranda mumbled to herself as she looked over the data in her computer once again. "We got her body from the frozen ground of Alchera. We got all the data about her before she died, before she even joined the Alliance ..."

_"You have no idea who I am."_

"... but still something's amiss. She never acts like she should. She doesn't act like Shepard is known to act. Her choice of words are not Shepards, but she still is Shepard. Moreau and Chakwas don't act like something is wrong. Neither do Tali or Garrus. Their behaviour doesn't point out anything except that they know and respect each other."

_"I'm a mystery to you. A mystery that you can't solve. A mystery that you won't solve."_

Miranda gritted her teeth as that memory came back. "You aren't a mystery. You are just a puzzle and once I found every part I will -"

"not solve it." Shepard replied, standing in the doorway of Miranda's room. Unnoticed to Miranda in her silent rant she had entered the room and watched her.

"Shepard! What are you doing here?" Miranda Lawson demanded to know.

"Trying to save you, you know." she casually replied, as if that was just an everyday occurence.

"Save me? I don't need someone to save me. I'm not even in the need of being saved. I never was. I'm perfect, you remember?"

"Perfect or not, Lawson. The riddle you are thinking about is deadly. Well, not the riddle as such, but the answer." Shepard allowed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Lawson, we may have our differences, but I wouldn't want to see you dead as long as I have a need for you."

Miranda Lawson raised an eyebrow at that. "Apart of my father, Jack and some other members of this crew, who would want to kill me?"

"It's not about _wanting_ to kill you, Lawson. It's about_ having_ to."

"Isolda - "

Once Miranda Lawson said 'Isolda' Shepard threw her against the next wall and jumped right after her, readying her omni-blade in that time. The Cerberus Officer had not expected the threw and was therefore unprepared for crashing against the wall.

"That was a big mistake. I told you again and again to stop it, but you wouldn't." Shepard yelled at her as her omni-blade pierced through Miranda's heart. "And you call yourself perfect."

"Seems Gardner got just more to do. That or I throw her out of the ship and go rogue earlier than I expected." She huffed at the dying body and sighed. "You knew more than I really thought you would." She allowed. "But you are not cleared for that knowledge. Not even Garrus or Tali are." Looking up at the roof she added. "Got that? Krios? Goto? Don't look too far into it otherwise you will end up like her."

No answer. No surprise. Still, Shepard was sure that they got the message.

"Oh, EDI?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Would you please inform everyone that our Executive Officer has just died?"

"Of course, Commander."

...

Miranda Lawson awoke with a bad taste on her mouth. She really didn't like those dreams of lately. Everytime dying by Shepard's hands.

"Preposterous!" She declared as she decided she had slept enough for today. "Shepard would never kill me ... or would she?"

Miranda Lawson knew that Shepard had said not to search for too much information about her. She told her to not find a solution to the puzzle that was called Shepard, but Miranda Lawson couldn't just stop it. If there was a puzzle she would search and find a solution to it. There never had been a puzzle she hadn't solved. It was just in her nature.

No, she wouldn't give up. She didn't even knew the meaning of that word. "You aren't a mystery. You are just a puzzle and once I found every part I will -"

"not solve it." Shepard suddenly replied, standing in the doorway of Miranda's room. Unnoticed to Miranda in her silent rant she had entered the room and watched her.

"Shepard! What are you doing here?" Miranda Lawson demanded to know.

"Trying to save you, you know." she casually replied, as if that was just an everyday occurence.

"Save me? I don't need someone to save me. I'm not even in the need of being saved. I never was. I'm perfect, you remember?"

"Perfect or not, Lawson. The riddle you are thinking about is deadly. Well, not the riddle as such, but the answer." Shepard allowed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Lawson, we may have our differences, but I wouldn't want to see you dead as long as I have a need for you."

Miranda Lawson raised an eyebrow at that. "Apart of my father, Jack and some other members of this crew, who would want to kill me?"

"It's not about _wanting_ to kill you, Lawson. It's about_ having_ to."

"I - " Miranda was about to say some name she had often read in combination with Shepard, but stopped herself. She had finally noticed that this was very similar to her late dreams. If this wasn't a dream, she didn't wanted to die yet.

Miss Lawson stood there and looked at Shepard and the spot she had died so often in her dreams. With a shiver she decided that it would be big mistake to die just yet. To ignore the very possibility of her death in the wrong reply.

"I'll keep that in mind." Miranda Lawson finally replied.

"Good." Shepard said and left.

Miss Lawson stood there and looked at the closed door and at the spot she had died so often. With a shiver she decided that she wouldn't pursue this mystery anymore, or at least for the time being. She loved to live far too much for it too end just now.

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AN:I'm sure this little chapter confused the hell out of some people. The base of this chapter is that the Shepard Cerberus has to deal with is way different than they expected her to be, like a completely different person.

Furthermore, this chapter is ... special. It is a part of a story that goes around in my head for some time now. I'm not sure when I will post the first chapter of that story or if I will do it at all. I can't even say if I will use this little Mistakes-story in that other story. It's a possibility, nothing more.


End file.
